Submission (#7976) Approved

There was a quiet place in Silveil, deeper than most dared to wander, where the glow of the forest thickened into something soft and slow. Mavis had passed it once by chance, a hollow nestled between curling roots and flowering vines, where the trees leaned close and the stars peeked through in pinpricks. No signs pointed to it, no well trod path. It simply… was. A clearing tucked into a fold of the forest like a secret waiting to be remembered.

The trees here were tall and thin, their trunks pale and ghostly beneath their bark. Vines looped around them like ribbons, heavy with blossoms that swayed even when there was no wind. The air carried a scent like cooled sugar and old parchment, something both sweet and strange. The mist hung low, colored by the glow of the plants, a steady pulse of lilac, seafoam, and soft golden blue. When you moved, it shimmered. When you stopped, it stilled.

The forest floor was soft underfoot. Moss grew in spiraling patterns, broken only by patches of tiny star shaped flowers that blinked open as you passed them. Mushrooms the size of dinner plates grew in clusters against tree roots, their caps wide and gently lit from within like lanterns left out for wandering souls. Everything in this place moved slowly, dreamlike. Even the glowflies here didn’t buzz, they drifted, like memories caught in the air.

Overhead, the night sky remained unchanged. A silvery canvas, vast and endless, painted with a thousand stars that never dimmed. They reflected on the forest’s wet leaves and slick stones, scattering light in every direction.

And unlike the bustling heart of Silveil or the shimmering noise of its neon drenched outskirts, this part of the forest exhaled stillness. Not silence, exactly, but a kind of quiet that wrapped around you gently. Leaves made soft rustling sounds that almost resembled breath. Flowers unfolded with a slow creak, as though waking from slumber. The whole clearing felt like it was dreaming with its eyes open watching, waiting, and somehow… alive.